Searching for a ne "everyday bike"

[Susan]

Over the last 9 years I used a bike similar to this one (in a 21-speeds version) for the city:

http://www.ktm-bikes.at/de/city/city/hardtail-alu/CITYUNIVERS8LITE.php

It met my needs in the beginning and I liked it, but the more I got into biking the less I liked this very upright position. Compared to my mountain bike this one feels just awkward and slow. (And to be honest, it's plain ugly.)

We don't own a car, so my husband and I bike almost everywhere. I need a bit more than those singlespeed "city cruisers" I see everywhere atm. I'd like to go fast and we live in a mountainous area, so I'd like to have enough gears to go everywhere. Maybe it would even be nice to have something I could use as a road bike for touring when there is no need for a full suspension MTB - but I don't know if this is realistic.

When searching around I found this:
http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=honky_tonk
And fell in love ;) but I'm not sure if it could fit me even in the smallest size as I'm only 5'3''?

I could also imagine using something like the Kona Dews (http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=dew_deluxe)
that are more MTB-like. (There is a very similar Specialized line too.)

Then I found the Soma Mixte:
http://www.somafab.com/bvista.html
I also read the discussion about it here on team estrogen (so I'm concered that it might be to big too, but I never had any issues with reach so far).
What I like about the mixte frame is the versatility - I could even wear a skirt while biking to work ;), standover height wouldn't be a problem and still it could be built to be a very sporty bike. (I also love the looks of your vintage Mixte Bikes :))
Maybe I could even use parts of my old KTM on this frame, but as my wrenching skills are limited I'm not sure they would fit?


The Soma, built quite sporty and with gears, is the closest I can get to my idea of a perfect bike so far. But I'm not sure if I can do it and fear that if I can't use at least some of my old parts I'd end up with a far to expensive bike that I can't use in the city.

On the other hand, it would be so convenient to buy a complete bike and not have to worry about parts, but none of them comes as close to "perfect" as the Mixte.

Can you give me advice about building a bike from a frameset? How do I tell which parts will fit? Is the idea of using most parts from my old bike at least for a start realistic?
If I have to buy all new parts, can you give me an idea of how much this will cost me for a bike that is usable (I know that depends on the parts. I just don't have any idea at all. I never bought bikeparts. I have to stay under about 1000$ at the moment.)

I also searched around for a vintage mixte, but most of them are quite expensive over here and would still need new parts to meet my needs.

[Susan]

A neWWWW everyday bike, you know. But I can't edit the thread title :o

[redrhodie]

I love the idea of the Soma Mixte for your needs, but I'm partial to Soma since I love my Double Cross dc so much. The Tange Prestige tubing they use is excellent. But, if you go that route, it might be hard to stay in budget, as I've found when building up a frame, it's not easy to choose lesser components to keep the price down. You can do it, but you'll probably have to make some compromises. I blew my budget on wheels. :o In hindsight, I'm really happy I did. I sold my trainer to pay for them, and I haven't missed it for one second, even this snowy winter.

It looks like it comes in an extra small (size 42 cm) that takes 26" wheels. I'd be really surprised if that was too big for you, as I'm 5' 5 and ride the 48 cm DC.

ETA: I just noticed you have a bike you can take parts from. That could help!

[Susan]

Thank you for your answer :)

I think the concerns about the Soma that where discussed here were that it might be to long for a woman and reach would be a problem.

I have a bike to take parts from, if they fit, yes. It has 28'' wheels, so that wouldn't fit the smallest frame, if I get it right.
If they fit, I could take the wheels, brakes and a lot of small extras like fenders and seatpost. I even have an old white saddle that would match the bike ;) I'm not at all sure about the whole gear-thing (that i don't know the right word for... drivetrain? I mean shifters, Chainrings, Freewheel, the whole thing ;) ) and if it would fit onto the Soma.

Maybe I could at least use some parts for a while and slowly upgrade piece by piece.

[Chicken Little]

Spent some time last week on the Soma. Beautiful finish, fine machine. I don't think you can go wrong with anything they make.

[Susan]

I like the Jamis Bikes, the Satellite is very affordable too.

Your needs sound similar to mine.
I also found the Kona Dew Drop when searching around. They don't have this Dew for 2011 anymore, but you can find the 2010 model:
http://www.leedsbicycle.com/products.php?plid=m1b0s6p3747
Maybe you'd like this one too, but I don't know if the geometry is any different than the other Kona mens bikes.

[Susan]

I love the red, too :p (Sounds like a stupid sexist joke... "Which bike?" "A red one!")

I never had any issues with mens bikes so far. As long as they are small enough for my standover height, they fit me. But I only tried MTBs, maybe its a different story for road bikes.

[redrhodie]

The Soma, built quite sporty and with gears, is the closest I can get to my idea of a perfect bike so far. But I'm not sure if I can do it and fear that if I can't use at least some of my old parts I'd end up with a far to expensive bike that I can't use in the city.

On the other hand, it would be so convenient to buy a complete bike and not have to worry about parts, but none of them comes as close to "perfect" as the Mixte.

Can you give me advice about building a bike from a frameset? How do I tell which parts will fit? Is the idea of using most parts from my old bike at least for a start realistic?
If I have to buy all new parts, can you give me an idea of how much this will cost me for a bike that is usable (I know that depends on the parts. I just don't have any idea at all. I never bought bikeparts. I have to stay under about 1000$ at the moment.)


Is your fear of using it the city because of theft? Yeah, it will be tempting. I just got a heavier lock for mine, and I only leave it for a few minutes at the grocery store.

I wish I could tell you if any of your old parts would work, but I let my lbs do my building for a reason. :o I do think you could stay within your budget, even if you had to get everything.

[Susan]

Is your fear of using it the city because of theft? Yeah, it will be tempting. I just got a heavier lock for mine, and I only leave it for a few minutes at the grocery store.


Yes, I can put the bike inside over night, but there are times where I have to leave it in the city for a couple of hours. I always lock it up, but the Soma frame is very pretty so maybe it would be too tempting if I would built it with very expensive parts.



wish I could tell you if any of your old parts would work, but I let my lbs do my building for a reason. I do think you could stay within your budget, even if you had to get everything.


I'm a bit wiser already. I could use the wheels but my brakes won't fit onto the frame. But the brakes I need won't cost me an arm and a leg.
My KTM uses a quill stem and that won't fit onto the Soma fork, unless I use their quill-adapter-thing but I think that wouldn't be worth it.
Soma has some nice parts too that are not too expensive, maybe a new crankset would be more aesthetically pleasing than my old one if it fits into the budget.

I'll have to make a list of needed parts to build the whole bike.




They should just call it regular and compact. I keep reading about these companies who are realizing that women don't always need compact geometry, and their answer is to have less of that. Well, a lot of people need a short TT! Men and women.


You are right. My husband is 10 cm taller than me but has the same standover height and a very long torso (which is nice because his jeans fit me :p), while my father is all legs and short-torsoed. I also read quite a lot of postings from men in different biking-forums that are in search for a short bike and can only find "womens" bikes for their needs (but find the pink decorations embarrassing ;)).
It's probably not a gender-specific thing at all.

[Susan]

Can anyone of you explain to me if brakes and brake levers have to match or if it doesn't matter what kind of combination of brakes and levers I use?

What i mean is: My old bike has a V-brake. It won't fit onto the Soma frame.

Can I still use my brake levers if I use a fitting brake for the Soma? Or do the levers need to be replaced too?

[laura*]

Can anyone of you explain to me if brakes and brake levers have to match or if it doesn't matter what kind of combination of brakes and levers I use?

What i mean is: My old bike has a V-brake. It won't fit onto the Soma frame.

Can I still use my brake levers if I use a fitting brake for the Soma? Or do the levers need to be replaced too?

V-brake levers are compatible with V-brakes and cable actuated disc brakes.

The Soma mixte needs road caliper brakes, hence you'll need new levers meant for caliper and cantilever brakes.

[Susan]

Thank you, laura. Something to add to my list of needed parts :)

[Bike Chick]

Good luck with your build, Susan. You will learn a lot about bikes in the process and it is quite fun. I'm wanting a similar everyday, commuter, off-road bike. There are so many out there that fit what I want but as soon as I check the geometry and TT length, I can cross it off my list, right Murienn? I fell in love with the Salsa Vaya (http://salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya/) and bought a size too big in a weak moment thinking it would work and it doesn't. I compromised because I couldn't find what I wanted with a short-enough TT. Now it's for sale on TE.

Please excuse the thread drift. Keep us posted on the progress, ok?
The Soma frame is beautiful.

[Susan]

I asked my LBS if they would help me build the frame if I can't do it alone and they were very helpful and will do it. They told me however, that it would be cheaper for me to buy the frame by myself. They said it wouldn't be a problem to built the whole bike for under 1000$ because they could use parts they already have in the shop.

Now I have to find out what taxes I will have to pay and how much the frame will cost including the shipping costs from overseas.
I'm not so sure where I can check this out.

[redrhodie]

Have you gotten your frame yet?

[Susan]

Finally I received the frame today. Sadly as soon as I unpacked it I noticed that it was damaged during delivery. The dropout is bent and the paint is chipped on that spot.
:(

I was sooo looking forward to building this bike next week.

[redrhodie]

Oh no! That's terrible! I hope you get a new frame fast! It must be even more of a pain to deal with this internationally.

[Susan]

I hope to get it replaced, but since the shop where I bought it is on holiday until April 12th I won't know what happens next until then. I also don't know how they/ParcelForce will handle the shipping costs or if it will be a problem that I accepted the delivery in the first place (the damage was not visible until I looked closer after unpacking the whole frame).
Sigh.

[redrhodie]

Oh, that sounds like torture. I hate not being able to deal with stuff right away. I hope the next 3 days fly by, and you get a replacement right away!

[Susan]

Just to give you an update - Velodrama (the Soma-dealer) kindly suggested that they would cover the cost for repairing the frame at my local bike shop.
My bike dealer told me that there is nothing wrong with the frame except the dropout needs to be bent back and the paint has to be redone, which would however cost about 50 - 100 Euro (which seems a lot to me for such a little spot?).
Now I have to wait what the guys at Velodrama think about that.

I'm still grumpy that my poor little frame was damaged before it even got its wheels :(

[redrhodie]

Well, it sounds like it's not a big deal to repair it, so hopefully it will get fixed quickly. I got a bike for my bf that came with a bent fork, and my lbs bent it back into shape. I guess that's the great thing about steel. Still, I was hoping they'd replace the frame for you, free of charge.

[redrhodie]

Have you gotten your bike yet, Susan?

[Susan]

Thanks for asking - but no, I still haven't got my frame back :(


In the meantime, I am looking for parts that I like. But I'm not so sure about a lot of things.
I planned to get drop bars after seeing your lovely Mixtes in the other thread. But I have never ridden a bike with drop bars and when I tried a friends bike with small drops, it didn't feel very comfortable for the city. On the one hand I think I might just get used to it, on the other hand, maybe flat bars and regular brakes and shifters are just better suited for the city where you brake and shift a lot?

And I am looking for fenders and a rack, I would prefer a more old-school look that would fit the bike, but I didn't find much when searching the internet.

[Susan]

No I didn't - thanks for this tip Muirenn. I like the rack with the plated finish on their homepage. I'm not sure if it will fit 700c tires?

I also found some nice racks on the electra homepage.

[Susan]

I got my bike this weekend! It rides great :)
I think the guys at my LBS did a great job in making my wish for a bike that can be ridden as a road bike and in the city come true.

Finally, I will have to put on fenders and a rack, but I will leave it this way until it gets colder :)

[jessmarimba]

I love it!! I want one now :)

[Sky King]

I know many people who own the same bike and love them, Here is a photo (http://biketouringnews.com/bike-stuff/soma-oxford-nitto-albatross/) of one of my friends bikes, the bike hermit just switched her handlebars to the Soma Oxford and he is building up a rivendell for her to use as a touring bike and her soma is now more of the around town, ride to work, haul the kid bike.

[Reesha]

Wow, I love the combination of the natural rubber tires with the seat and paneling on your bike. Classy, classy, classy!

[redrhodie]

Yay! Beautiful machine! Have you ridden it yet?

[Susan]

:)

I have only ridden it around town and it felt great - compared to my old bike it feels so small and light and pedaling is so effortless :)
I am looking forward to do a longer tour tomorrow.

[Tri Girl]

Susan- your bike is GORGEOUS!!!!!! LOVE it!! Enjoy every mile. :)

[Owlie]

Very pretty!